Security Spotlight: Real (and virtual) bank robberies, fake checks, & more!

Outdid Dillinger and lived to tell about it

Famous...

John Herbert Dillinger, America's most infamous bank robber during the early 1930s, robbed two dozen banks in Ohio and Indiana and escaped from jail twice. Dillinger graced newspaper headlines across the United States with exaggerated accounts of his daring bravado and colorful personality. Dillinger and his gang drew support in the Midwest where banks and bankers were widely viewed as oppressors of common people during the Great Depression. The FBI (first known as the Bureau of Investigation), led by J. Edgar Hoover, was launched in response to the government's demand for federal action to be taken against Dillinger and other gangsters. In July 1934, Dillinger's notoriety came to an end at the hands of federal agents when he was shot and killed while attempting to flee his arrest.

Infamous -

Morris Lynn Johnson may not be as famous as Dillinger but their stories are similar - with the difference being that Johnson lived to tell his. Like Dillinger, Johnson was also from Indiana and really good at robbing banks. So good in fact, he outdid the notorious Dillinger. Johnson robbed at least three dozen banks and escaped from prison three times. Johnson was tall, handsome and self-confident. He wore his hair slicked into a pompadour and his "10-Most-Wanted" poster described his eyes as unusually vivid blue. He always dressed sharp in suits and sport coats. When robbing banks, Johnson almost always worked with a partner and had studied the bank's interior and its employees prior to the heist. Typically, he and his partner would arrive at a bank in a stolen car, leave the engine running and enter the bank wearing bandannas and sunglasses or ski masks. Armed with a gun, he remained calm and was never reckless, leaving those involved always knowing he was in charge. "Even the investigators had great respect for him, and he did for them. He was a career hold-up man. He never got caught in a bank or jeopardized any civilian that was in the bank. In those days we called them professionals," said retired Indianapolis police officer Lou Christ in an interview several years ago. Unlike Dillinger, who thrived on the media attention, Johnson took great pains to avoid the press. "I never tried to get in the papers or get famous," he said in a recent interview. "The more people knew what you looked like, the worse it was." Publicity was definitely not Johnson's friend. He was apprehended May 12, 1997 - one month after his photo was widely circulated on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list.

Johnson is now 76 years old and has spent 47 of the last 50 years behind bars. His scheduled release date is still five years away in 2018. When asked if it was worth it, Johnson said "Hell no, it wasn't worth it" nothing is worth even one year in prison."

Check our Bank Robbery page for photos and information on the latest robbery suspects. There are 48 unknown bank bandits featured in our suspects gallery for November.

All but a few of those wore hats or some type of head covering to disguise their appearance. Enforcing a no hats, hoods and sunglasses policy can help reduce the number of bandits who target your bank. Purchase No Hat Cling signs for all of your branches from the Banker Store.

Banks Lose in More Ways Than One and Defensive Tactics

Good police work -

Ryan Beisley and Travis Johnson were suspects in several bank robberies in the Portland, OR area over the course of a few days. The robbery spree for the alleged serial bank robbers ended when the two men tried to rob the bank inside a Fred Meyer grocery store in Wood Village, OR while police were conducting an on-site investigation. The two bandits attempted to flee, but the long arm of the law didn't have to stretch too far and they were quickly apprehended.

A bank's best defense -

It's often said that the best defense is a good offense. Following a bank robbery in Virginia Beach, police were inundated with tips after they released a good surveillance photo of the suspect taken during the robbery. Get the details and see the image that helped lead to the arrest of Joshua Ross Van Effen. Lessons taken from this story are that good cameras, with accurate time stamps, and proper positioning and lighting show a good likeness of the robber that can be used for quicker apprehension. Banks should also consider making donations to the crime tip lines that release these images or provide reward money for tips that lead to an arrest. Often the people who call these anonymous lines are other thieves who want to remove the competition.

Virtual bank robbery -

Not all bank robberies happen at the branch. If you are receiving our weekly Tech Talk briefing, you're familiar with the virtual currency, Bitcoin. If you've also been following the news about the increase in DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, you know these attacks are often about taxing a banks' resources and helping hackers steal funds. It's all about the money. Since Bitcoins are stored electronically, some experts recommend putting them on a removable drive and detaching that drive from a computer to prevent access to the virtual currency. A recent DDoS attack that was used in a $1 million theft highlights the need to better safeguard digital currency from digital thieves. Get the details and more from this article.

More than one way to lose money -

Proper training on what to do during a bank robbery is important. Employees need to know how to handle a robbery and help prevent injury to themselves and those in the bank when it is robbed. In Arlington, VA just a few days before Thanksgiving, a Wells Fargo bank branch was robbed. Two men, at least one of which was armed, with their faces covered ordered everyone in the branch to get down on the floor. An elderly woman was thrown or pushed to the ground and injured, requiring medical treatment. While the incident was no fault of her own or the bank's, this case is a reminder that there is more than one way the bank suffers losses during a robbery. The bank may be required to pay the cost of the victim's medical expenses and may need to negotiate a settlement with the injured customer. This could cost more than the robber's take. What will the insurance cover in these circumstances? What should the employees have done to prevent this situation, or what did they maybe do they should not have done? These are scenarios that banks should cover in their robbery training to help employees realize that losses can extend beyond the money taken from a teller drawer.

Hot Topics from the Bankers' Threads

In the publicly accessible threads, one banker is looking to upgrade their bank's surveillance system and was looking for ideas. Can you help with any surveillance system recommendations?

Additional discussions on various topics, such as bank keys and who can serve as the Security Officer, can be found in the Public Security area. When commenting on these discussions, keep in mind this is an unprotected public forum and comments should be limited to generic content.

We also have a "private" security forum for discussion of more private, sensitive topics. That is where security officers were discussing how long DVR images should be retained, software vendors, SAR filings, combinations, and more.

To comment in Bankers' Threads you must be a registered user. You can register here. If using your bank email account, you will be given access to the private forums. The Private area is a group of forums under the heading "Private - Financial Institution Personnel Only." The Private forums do not include access to Bankers Hotline or Compliance Action, premium content areas that require paid subscriptions to those respective publications.

If you are already registered for the Threads, but don't yet have access to the private forums, using your bank email address send a request for access to andyz@bankersonline.com. Please verify that you do not yet have Private access. Once your registration request is approved, you can access the Private Security forum here.

BOL CrimeDex

Counterfeits in the wind

When we review each month's series of BOL CrimeDex reports, we often see patterns. This month's collection included a large number of reports involving counterfeits. A counterfeit Massachusetts driver's license was at the center of a report from South Carolina involving an individual who claimed to be mute (that was phony, too) and attempted purchases with a compromised store credit card. A Schertz, Texas bank posted an alert that counterfeit cashier's checks purporting to be issued by the bank were in circulation. Police in California posted an alert concerning the passing of counterfeit American Express Travelers Cheques in the Santa Barbara area. Vantage West Credit Union in Tucson, Arizona reported that fraudulent versions of its official checks were being sent to consumers in a nationwide scam. And finally, West Star Credit Union in Las Vegas issued an alert that counterfeit cashier's checks bearing its name have been circulating nationwide in a "secret shopper" scam.

Although the FDIC seems to have abandoned its reporting of counterfeit bank checks in its Special Alerts series, you can still obtain information on the frequent scams involving bogus official checks as a member of BOL CrimeDex. Participants can also use CrimeDex to get the word out when their checks have been counterfeited.

Each month's BOL CrimeDex alerts can provide your financial institution with fresh examples of crimes that can be used to bring reality to security training presentations.

CrimeDex is now FREE to registered members of the Bankers' Threads Private Security Forum! Get the details and subscribe now!

Facebook Blog

Throughout the month, we share news related incidents on our Facebook page that can be informative examples for training employees on security issues and more. The BOL Facebook page contains several interesting posts in November. If you haven't visited us recently, you may have missed the November 19th link to a story that serves as a reminder why CIP is important. Four ringleaders were arrested and 42 others are being sought in a $100,000 scam where various people opened new accounts with fake IDs and banks lost funds via ATM withdrawals and bad checks. And while you are there, check out the links to recent BOL Tech Talk stories that cover ATM fraud prevention, phishing, and more.

Catch up on these topics and more on our Facebook page. Be sure to "like" the articles so we can continue to post more articles of interest to you!